Anti-slip floor tile assembly with inlaid tiles and method of making an anti-slip floor tile

ABSTRACT

A floor tile is disclosed that includes a metal frame, a backing plate, and a plurality of tiles assembled to the metal frame and the backing plate. The metal frame defines a plurality of openings, and has a thickness T. The openings are separated by a plurality of connected strips that are coated with an anti-slip coating. The backing plate is attached to a bottom side of the metal frame. The plurality of tiles are each assembled into one of the plurality of openings with the backing plate supporting the tiles. The tiles have a height H that is less than T and have a top surface that is recessed below the anti-slip coating on the connected strips.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 63/230,186 filed Aug. 6, 2021, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated in its entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure is directed to a method of making an anti-slip floortile and the floor tile made by the method.

BACKGROUND

Floor tiles are used in a wide variety of applications and are used fortheir aesthetic appeal, durability, and ease of installation. Floor tileproducts may be made of ceramic, glass, granite, marble, wood and otherhard surface materials. One problem with such floors is that they maybecome slippery when wet when used in areas such as building lobbies orcommercial kitchens. These types of flooring applications are frequentlyexposed to surface hazards such as water and spilled food, beverages,and cooking products.

This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and otherproblems as summarized below.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of this disclosure, a floor tile is disclosedthat includes a metal frame, a backing plate, and a plurality of tilesassembled to the metal frame and the backing plate. The metal framedefines a plurality of openings, and has a thickness T. The openings areseparated by a plurality of connected strips that are coated with ananti-slip coating. The backing plate is attached to a bottom side of themetal frame. The plurality of tiles are each assembled into one of theplurality of openings with the backing plate supporting the tiles. Thetiles have a height H that is less than T and have a top surface that isrecessed below the anti-slip coating on the connected strips.

According to other aspects of this disclosure, the floor tile mayfurther comprise an adhesive applied between the tiles and both theplurality of openings and the backing plate that bonds the tiles to theopenings and backing plate.

The metal framework may be aluminum and the anti-slip coating may be astainless steel coating.

The connected strips may extend in a linear array or may be curved. Theconnected strips may be formed from a single panel by forming holes in ablank or may be formed separately and then welded together.

The anti-slip coating is a metal coating that is metalized (applied byplasma stream deposition) on the plurality of intersecting strips. Theanti-slip coating may be applied by other metal-on-metal applicationtechnique provided that the coating provides a textured surface.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method is disclosedfor making a floor tile. The method includes the following stepsbeginning with the step of providing a metal frame defining a pluralityof openings. Applying an anti-slip coating to an upper surface of themetal frame. Attaching a base plate to a bottom surface of the metalframe. Applying an adhesive between the tiles and both the openings inthe metal frame and the base plate. Assembling a plurality of tiles witheach tile being assembled into one of the plurality of openings tosecure the tiles in the openings on the base plate with a top surface ofthe tiles being recessed relative the upper surface of the metal frame.

According to other aspects of the method, the method may also includethe step of punching the plurality of openings to form the metal frame.

The step of applying the anti-slip coating may be performed by sprayinga molten metal coating on the top surface of the metal frame.

The metal framework is preferably made of aluminum, or an aluminumalloy, but may also be formed of another metal such as stainless steel,steel, copper, brass, or the like. The anti-slip coating is preferablystainless steel or a stainless steel alloy but may also be formed ofanother metal.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, a floor tile isdisclosed that includes a metal framework that defines a plurality ofconnected strips. The plurality of connected strips are coated with ananti-slip coating. A plurality of tiles are assembled to the metalframework between the plurality of connected strips. The tiles have anupper surface that is recessed below the top surface of the connectedstrips when installed.

According to other aspects of the floor tile, the tiles may be ceramictiles, glass tiles, marble tiles, wood tiles, or granite tiles.

The plurality of tiles may be attached to the metal framework and thebase plate by an adhesive.

The metal framework may define openings that extend from a bottomsurface of the metal framework to the top surface of the metalframework.

The above aspects of this disclosure and other aspects will be describedbelow with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floor tile assembly made according toone embodiment of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a floor tile frame, a baseplate and a plurality of tiles aligned with recesses formed in the floortile frame.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a base plate and a floor tile frame thathas an anti-slip coating applied to a top surface.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a floor tile including the base plate andthe coated floor tile frame shown in FIG. 3 and includes tiles disposedin the openings defined by the floor tile frame.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 3 .

FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method of making andinstalling the floor tile shown in FIGS. 1-6 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrated embodiments are disclosed with reference to thedrawings. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare intended to be merely examples that may be embodied in various andalternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale and somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. The specific structural and functional details disclosed arenot to be interpreted as limiting, but as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art how to practice the disclosed concepts.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a floor tile assembly 10 is illustrated inFIG. 1 that includes a metal framework 12 (hereinafter “framework”) anda plurality of tiles 14. The framework 12 may also be referred to as ametal tile support panel, or a metal tile. The metal framework issupported on a base plate 16 that also supports the tiles 14. The tiles14 are assembled to the framework 12 and permanently affixed with anadhesive (not shown) applied between the framework 12, the base plate 16and the tiles 14. An anti-slip coating 18 is applied to the framework byspraying molten metal on an upper surface 20 of the framework 12. Themolten metal spray may also be applied to the base plate 16.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the framework 12 is preferably made ofaluminum or an aluminum alloy to minimize the weight of the floor tileassembly 10. Alternatively, the framework 12 may be made of steel,stainless steel, or another metal or metal alloy. A plurality ofopenings 22 are cut in the upper surface 20 of the framework 12. Theopenings 22 as shown are square, but the openings 22 may be rectilinear,circular, ovate, or irregular in shape depending upon the shape of thetiles 14 that are assembled to the framework 12. The openings 22 areseparated by strips 24 formed on the upper surface 20 that are coatedwith the anti-slip coating 16 and is shown by stippling on the uppersurface 20. The openings 22 are each adapted to receive a tile 14.

The anti-slip coating 18 is preferably made of a stainless steel alloyto provide a surface that does not corrode and provide a hard, durablesurface covering the framework 12. The stainless steel alloy ispreferably applied to the upper surface 20 by spraying molten stainlesssteel from welding rods (not shown) in an arc-welding process onto theupper surface 18. The process is described in applicant's prior U.S.Pat. No. 5,711,118 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

The tiles 14 are preferably ceramic tiles that provide a durable surfaceand offer flexibility in design and an aesthetically pleasingappearance. Alternatively, the tiles 14 may be made of marble, glass,wood, fiberglass, plastic, granite, or the like. The tiles 14 may berectilinear, circular, ovate, or irregular in shape. The tiles 14 areshown with small dots on their top surface in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken through the line 5-5 in FIG. 3 . Thetiles 14 are shown to be disposed in the openings 22 in FIG. 6 . Theanti-slip coating 18 is applied to the framework 12 and is above thesurface of the tiles 14 when the tiles are attached to a floor to assurethat a person walking on the floor tile assembly 10 (shown in FIG. 1 )will contact the anti-slip coating 18 on the strips 24 formed betweenthe tiles 14.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the openings 22 have a depth D and thetiles 14 have a height H that is less than D The tiles have a topsurface 26 that is recessed below the anti-slip coating 18 on the strips24.

The tiles 14 are secured to the framework 12 by a conventional tileadhesive (not shown) applied between the tiles 14 and the openings 22.The adhesive is primarily applied between a bottom surface 28 of thetiles 14 and to a supporting upper surface 30 of the openings 22. Theupper surface 30 provides support for the tiles 14. Any gaps between thelateral sides 32 of the tiles and the openings 22 may be filled withadhesive.

Referring to FIG. 7 , a method of making the floor tile assembly ofFIGS. 1-6 is illustrated by a flow chart. According to the method, ametal blank is provided at 40 that is then punched at 42 to form theplurality of openings 22 in the framework 12. The upper surfaces 20 ofthe framework 12 is abraded at 44 by shot-blasting to clean and roughenthe upper surfaces 20. At 46, a molten metal anti-slip coating 18 issprayed on an upper surface of the framework 12 and may also be appliedto the base plate below the openings 22. At 52, an adhesive is appliedbetween the tiles 14 and the openings 22 at 50 and the tiles 14 areassembled into the openings 22. An optional aspect of the method is thatthe portion of the anti-slip coating 18 applied to the base plate 16exposed in the openings 22 increases the roughness of the base plate andimproves the adhesion of the tiles to the framework 12. The adhesive iscured at 54 and, after curing, the floor tiles 10 are attached to afloor with a tile adhesive at 56.

The embodiments described above are specific examples that do notdescribe all possible forms of the disclosure. The features of theillustrated embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments ofthe disclosed concepts. The words used in the specification are words ofdescription rather than limitation. The scope of the following claims isbroader than the specifically disclosed embodiments and also includesmodifications of the illustrated embodiments. In addition, the featuresof various implementing embodiments may be combined to form furtherembodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A floor tile comprising: a metal frame defining aplurality of openings, the metal frame having a thickness T, wherein theopenings are separated by a plurality of connected strips, and whereinthe plurality of connected strips are coated with an anti-slip coating;a backing plate attached to a bottom side of the metal frame; and aplurality of tiles each assembled into one of the plurality of openingswith the backing plate supporting the tiles, wherein the tiles have aheight H that is less than T, and wherein the tiles have a top surfacethat is recessed below the anti-slip coating on the connected strips. 2.The floor tile of claim 1 further comprising: an adhesive appliedbetween the tiles and both the plurality of openings and the backingplate, wherein the adhesive bonds the tiles into the openings.
 3. Thefloor tile of claim 1 wherein the metal framework is aluminum and theanti-slip coating is a stainless steel coating.
 4. The floor tile ofclaim 1 wherein the connected strips extend in a linear array.
 5. Thefloor tile of claim 1 wherein the connected strips are curved andintersect with each other to define the openings.
 6. The floor tile ofclaim 1 wherein the anti-slip coating is a metal coating that is flamesprayed on the plurality of intersecting strips.
 7. A method of making afloor tile comprising: providing a metal frame defining a plurality ofopenings; applying an anti-slip coating to an upper surface of the metalframe; attaching a base plate to a bottom surface of the metal frame;applying an adhesive to the tiles; and assembling a plurality of tileseach into one of the plurality of openings and securing the tiles in theopenings and on the base plate with an adhesive, wherein a top surfaceof the tiles is recessed relative the upper surface of the metal frame.8. The method of making a floor tile of claim 7 further comprising:punching the plurality of openings to form the metal frame.
 9. Themethod of making a floor tile of claim 7 wherein the step of applyingthe anti-slip coating is performed by spraying a molten metal coating onthe top surface of the metal frame.
 10. The method of making a floortile of claim 7 wherein the metal framework is aluminum.
 11. The methodof making a floor tile of claim 7 wherein the anti-slip coating isstainless steel.
 12. A floor tile comprising: a metal tile including aplurality of connected strips defining a plurality of openings, theconnected strips having a top surface, wherein the top surfaces of theplurality of connected strips are coated with an anti-slip coating; anda plurality of tiles disposed each in one of the openings in the metaltile between the plurality of connected strips, wherein the tiles havean upper surface that is recessed below the top surface of the connectedstrips in an installation orientation.
 13. The floor tile of claim 12wherein the plurality of tiles are selected from the group consistingof: ceramic tiles; glass tiles; marble tiles; wood tiles; and granitetiles.
 14. The floor tile of claim 12 wherein the metal tile is aluminumand the anti-slip coating is stainless steel.
 15. The floor tile ofclaim 12 wherein the plurality of tiles are attached to the metal tileand the base plate by an adhesive.
 16. The floor tile of claim 12wherein the openings defined by the connected strips extend from abottom surface of the metal tile to the top surface of the metal tile.